I’m officially in the “are you dating anyone yet” era. I was recently back home and ran into one of my old school teachers while at a local coffee shop. As he walked over to my table one of his first questions was if I was married yet! I thought to myself, here we go. I said nope not married, not dating, so if you know anyone send them my way! The next week I had another family friend ask me a similar question “are there any boys in your life?” As I laughed my mom sat beside me and responded “there’s not a lot of boys but there are a lot of girls and if she had a boy she would not have the time she does to spend with the girls she’s impacting.” As mom-coded of a response that was, I sat back and thought, wow but how true. Every season we are in is intentional for the time and place that God has us. Through the ups and downs of singleness, the highs and lows of waiting, our hearts are truly longing for a love that only Jesus can satisfy. The best news is that we get to play a part in a story that satisfies all, the greatest love story!

There is a story in the bible that is a beautiful love story but more so points back to the heart of Jesus for you. In the book of Ruth we read about a woman named Naomi who had two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, and two daughters in laws, Orpah and Ruth. When Naomi’s husband and two sons died she was left with her two daughters. Given the option to move back with their families or stay with Naomi, Orpah went home but Ruth stayed with Naomi. They traveled to a town called Bethlehem which Naomi had previously moved from because of famine and began to rebuild their life there. At this point they are poor, women, in a foreign town. Desperate for food, Naomi sends Ruth to pick grain from a field of a distant relative Boaz and here is where we watch the beauty of their love story but also God’s, unfold.

I love this story because it’s honestly not as much about a romantic relationship on earth as it is the overarching heavenly love of God. It is a direct representation of Jesus’ heart for us, choosing an unlikely, undeserving girl to love and do life with.

There is so much cultural context in this story that makes it so powerful so I encourage you to read this story on your own and dive into a commentary or devotional to get the fullness of what it represents. Naomi and Ruth were in the middle of utmost tragedy. At the lowest point of true desperation but we know that even in that moment God can do a beautiful thing.

Today, we are going to read through four points that we can notice in this story that point us back to the love story of God.

1. Boaz Noticed Ruth

In Ruth 2:5 we read the first time that Boaz arrives at his field and takes notice of Ruth. It was written into the law that those harvesting had to leave leftovers for the poor to gather. This is what Ruth was doing, gathering her portion. As she gathered, Boaz noticed. God, before anything you ever did, took notice of you. There has never been a moment when God has taken his eyes off of you. This attribute of Boaz and Jesus hits home for me because for years I lived from the lie that I was unseen by God. I lived my life not trying to gain the love of those around me but carrying the burden that I was the one that upheld it. The reality of life with God is that we are chosen by him, it was nothing we did to catch his affection but simply who we are as his daughters.

2. Boaz Provided for Ruth

In Ruth 2:8 Boaz invites Ruth to gather grain from his field and his field only. He knows as a foreign, single woman that if she was in his field then she would be kept safe and provided for. Boaz provides a way for her to have life literally through food to eat and have it abundantly through the labor of his field. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus also came so that we could have life and have it abundantly. Jesus is our ultimate provider. He is our provider in the physical through what we need but also in the spiritual. Every desire of love, companionship, friendship, he satisfies all.

3. Boaz Pursued Ruth

In Ruth 2:14 Boaz invites Ruth to eat with him. The cultural context to this passage is essential in order to understand the magnitude of the action it was for Boaz to pursue Ruth. Ruth was a poor and single Moabite woman in an Israelite town and this is in a time when where you came from really mattered. There was no reason Boaz should have seen value, opportunity, or a future in Ruth but he did. There is no reason Jesus should have seen value, opportunity, or a future in us but he does. He doesn’t need qualified he just needs willing and for Boaz, Ruth was just a willing vessel in his field and he blessed that abundantly. Colossians 1:12 says “and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” Jesus qualified you as enough. Despite where you came from, what you did, who your flesh tells you you are God, who has authority about all, calls you qualified!

4. Boaz Redeemed Ruth

The most powerful and reflective part of this story is one that can be easily missed. In Ruth 4:9 we read that Boaz “bought from Naomi all of the property belonging to Elimelek, Kilion, and Mahlon.” We know the word “redemption” on the other side of the cross but long before then God included practices of redemption in the Israelite law. Through these redemptive laws, when a family lost all they had their land could be repurchased by a relative and life could be redeemed.

This is what Boaz did when he “redeemed” Ruth. Ruth and Naomi had lost everything, all hope, and now way to get it back but Boaz made a way. Boaz bought back the field of the land that once was in the family of Ruth’s husband. Through this Boaz redeemed her life from the depths of poverty, from a place of loneliness, and gave her a life that was more abundant than she could dream. Foreshadowing the redemptive Savior that was to come who would do the same thing for us. Ruth only had access to this redemption because of a covenant through marriage and we have access to redemption through the covenant of Jesus.

I wrote above that growing up I felt like I was unseen, like God couldn’t use me. I came from a broken family, in a broken home, I had people walk in and out of my life. I simply held onto hope that God was good trying to convince myself to believe it. I think to myself, how could God use someone like me but then I look at the life of Ruth. She came from a foreign and broken family but was adopted into the family of Christ. He showed favor over her life and made a way for her family to be redeemed and then God literally used her as an instrument in the lineage of some of the bible’s greatest leaders and then the greatest leader, our Savior of the world. Ruth’s brokenness played a part in the family line of Jesus!

This story gives us hope for the Love of God over our life, the ways he can and he wants to use your life and it could not be a better picture of God’s heart for you. God sees you, God loves you, and this season he can satisfy every desire of your heart!

Scarlet is a speaker and writer from Birmingham, Alabama. Passionate about helping other girls go from wanting to walk with Jesus to knowing how, Scarlet founded a girls ministry called Feel The Smile that gives biblical encouragement for practical struggles. Scarlet seeks to share the true heart of Jesus with people everywhere through her blog, podcast, and social media platforms. In her free time you can find her spending time with family, friends, speaking, and writing for the LO Sister app!